The Prefect ⌁ Draco Malfoy

3.

"Here you are." Ron Weasley handed a silver badge to (Y/N) as they walked side by side to show the first years around, "I know how you feel, I didn't expect it either."

"I- uh- why didn't I get this in my letter?" She stuttered nervously, believing this still wasn't real.

"Dunno." Ron shrugged, "Damian gave it to me in the Prefect carriage to give to you. Said something about how they just forgot to send it in the letter."

"They do know I'm not Hermione, right?" She asked.

"Pretty sure everyone knows the difference between you and Hermione." Ron chuckled. Then turned to the other first years who still bustled between themselves. About to edge the stairs.

"Oh- be careful of the staircases, they move!" (Y/N) found herself saying as one kid marveled at the sudden movement he saw above him of the different stairs moving.

The staircase the Gryffindor first years and themselves nearly collided with the Slytherins. Already Ron elbowed her to look at Draco and Pansy and how horribly rude they were being to their first years. (Y/N) shook her head.

Draco and (Y/N) made eye contact briefly. In his robes he put a hand on the railing and was leaning annoyed of the stupidness of the new kids. Pansy was staring admiringly at him. When he made contact with (Y/N), his demeanor changed.

Draco looked away quickly from her, puffing his chest out and crossing his arms. It happened so quickly but it didn't look natural in the slightest. Some first year even dared to poke fun at him and Draco retaliated with some choice words that (Y/N) could never dream to repeat to another human being.

She found him so strange. How could he be such a horrible person then give her charity — unneeded charity at that. But she didn't have time to dwell on it as the staircase finally arrived at the common room.

⌁

"We have weekly meetings, you'll get a note in class about them. There's also other requirements.." Ron rambled on and on about all the requirements he learned from the Prefect meeting. But honestly (Y/N) just wanted to run from feeling so anxious.

At some point Ron stopped talking and she looked up. She couldn't be there any longer, she needed to talk to Damian and Nicola. She got up from the common room couch they sat at.

"Have I said something?" Ron asked, confused.

"No, I just need to talk to Nicola. I have some more questions." (Y/N) said as simply as she could and ran off up the steps to the Head's dormitories leaving Ron to grumble on his own.

⌁

(Y/N) knocked on the doors of the dormitories. Both Damian and Nicola as they were across from each other. Separated by a small trophy room.

Walking around the room, (Y/N) waited and saw all the honor and glory Gryffindors had achieved. She really wished she could reach that kind of honor. But these titles, these awards could never be hers and that was something she has and  always would have to live with. Picking up an old photograph of a Quidditch match she recognized her mother in the background.

"Ah, the Quidditch match of 1976. Gryffindor and Slytherin played for 2 weeks before the snitch was caught. And it was caught by Slytherin, but Gryffindor already had more points, we ended up winning that match anyway." Damian closed the door behind him, (Y/N) jumped in surprise, "My father was in that match."

(Y/N) nodded her head, putting the photo down.

"Anyways, what brings you here?" Damian asked, his floppy head of dark hair dancing across his forehead. He had deep and sincere brown eyes, tan skin, and a gorgeous smile. He really was quite attractive which only made (Y/N)'s situation of confrontation even worse.

 "I know there must've been a mistake in choosing me. And I want to say that it's ok." (Y/N) sighed, keeping rigidly still.

 "That's very respectable of you, (Y/N), but we didn't make a mistake." Damian said, (Y/N) was shocked. 

"I- uh" She struggled with how to continue a conversation she wasn't prepared for, "I can't."

"Can't? Can't what?" Damian asked, crossing his arms.

"Be a prefect. I-I'm not able to do that. These kids don't like me, I haven't spoken to anyone in 5 years. How am I supposed to do the job of a prefect if I can't speak? I can't talk to people let alone tell anyone what to do. I appreciate it, but for your guys' sake: give it to another person." (Y/N) begged.

"(Y/N), even if we could do that we wouldn't." Damian said, "Let's sit down and talk about this."

They sat down on opposite sides of a coffee table, obviously meant for these kinds of things. (Y/N) bobbed her knee

"Nicola and I have no real control over who becomes prefects, we only announce them. That's the truth. Now, we do give suggestions, nominations. And for that, we did put your name on the nomination list of who we believed were our 5 best girl candidates. We did that because I think that giving you position is good for you. We want our Gryffindors to be the best they can be, we wanted you to have this position over someone like Granger or Brown because you would actually grow from it, benefit." Damian continued, "Same thing with Weasley, we're hoping he'll be able to grow to a level of maturity through this position. Though unlikely. For this very reason, you keep saying you are unable to speak to people but you have- are literally right now. I wouldn't be so quick to say that people don't like you, we're on the same team. If you've never talked to anyone they don't know you yet. "

"That is... very kind of you." (Y/N) began, "I'm grateful, I am. But.."

"But what?" Damian waited.

"Me being in Gryffindor does not exactly give my family pride." She kept her eyes down, divulging the true reason she couldn't accept this position. "As much as I would love to have what you're telling me, I can't accept. Otherwise, I'll be getting a howler tomorrow morning throwing me out of the family."

"Why?" Damian asked. Curious to hear more from her, and now understanding why Dumbledore was so cryptic.

"I'm the first one of my family.. after a line of Slytherins." She hated telling who she was a person she didn't know. But she found it necessary, if she needed to go to Dumbledore it would be good to have Head Boy on her side. "They almost threw me out of the house when I was announced as a Gryffindor. I'm not allowed to take my robes out of my suitcase when I get home. Can you imagine when they get the letter I've been chosen as a prefect of Gryffindor?"

"That's not something to be ashamed of. And I'm sorry you have had to experience shame for being a Gryffindor. You should feel pride-" Damian started.

"I do. I love being a Gryffindor, but if I was from a different family that would be better. But I'm not. And that's something I can't control. But what I can control is being able not to anger them further." (Y/N) explained.

"If you want to embrace who you are, keep this position. Grow into the person you're meant to be. What's great about this, is that we put your name on a slip of 3 people and Dumbledore picked you." He said, "Keep the title, and Nicola and I will work on making you the most comfortable as you can be. You don't have to jump straight into the crowd. You can ease into it. This is a commitment, you have time. But the sorting hat is never wrong. Let us prove it to you that you're where you need to be."

"Can we find a way not to send a letter to my family?" (Y/N) leaned in, so tempted by the position.

"Already been taken care of." Damian leaned in, too. The girl stared at her hands, tossing her fingers and bouncing her leg in anxiousness. She took a minute to think, maybe she wouldn't feel so miserable. If her parents knew nothing, she wouldn't be able to get in trouble. The only time they would know would be graduation, if they came, and at that point, she's already leaving the house. Dumbledore picked her.

"Fine."